Roisin Murphy returns to the fray on November 13 with the release here of her “Orally Fixated” single, which is currently streaming on her MySpace page.

The 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days' actor reached the milestone age Wednesday and says he is finally settling down and looking forward to life with girlfriend Camilla Alves, son Levi, 16 months and the forthcoming new addition to their family.

Irish singer/songwriter Lesley Roy will perform the National Anthem at the Mets’ home stadium during Irish Night at Citi Field on Friday, August 21.

Facebook is leading teenagers to commit suicide. That's according to the head of the Catholic Church in England. The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, says that Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace are pushing teenagers over the edge The Archbishop said that teenagers now value their friendships according to how many friends they have on Facebook rather than the true value of those friendships.

The Mighty Stef, a singer and songwriter from Dublin who has been celebrated in the U.K. press for the storytelling in his songs and for his passionate live shows, has release a new album, "100 Midnights."

A new social networking Web site for Irish dancers and musicians is proving to be a big hit on the Internet.  Diddlyi.com, the creation of two brothers from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, went live in April

Y'know, for a while there, I thought Coldplay finally did it. They seemed poised to steal the crown of world's best band from Bono and the boys with their Grammy Award-winning Viva La Vida; heck, they even absconded with U2 producer Brian Eno to seal the deal! With No Line on the Horizon, U2's newest release that's officially out next Tuesday, the band swipes the crown back and places it out of reach for the next few years. Hard to believe, I know.

THIS seems to be the summer of the mash up single from aging hip-hopping rockers. Kid Rock scored the biggest hit of his career with "All Summer Long," a mixture of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and "Sweet Home Alabama." The Irish American rapper Everlast just topped that effort with his brilliant cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," out this week.

MYSPACE, the social networking site, launched its long-awaited music service which offers millions of streaming tracks on demand in the U.S. and a list of enhanced video capabilities to make it easier for artists to play them on the site.

OPIUM is an appropriate name for the music of Dublin singer-songwriter Mark Geary's new album. It's dark, sometimes dangerous, and no less addictive.

The set opens with "Cold Litte Fire," a song about seduction that, like many of these songs, can also speak to the temptations of chemically-induced euphoria.

OASIS has never been one to come up with anything original. After whipping up a fresh sound on their promising first album, they chose to pick the dried bones of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for well over a decade now.

In recent years, the Gallagher brothers have kept their band relevant not with music, but with outlandish quotes and public sniping at one another.

A drunken car thief took the life of an Irish American teenager whose family is prominent in local Irish cultural circles, and another young man in Middle Village, Queens last weekend. Robert Ogle, 16, was struck and killed instantly by 27-year-old Kenneth Guyear, who was driving a silver Kia that he had earlier stolen from outside a deli in the neighborhood. Robert's father, Brendan Ogle is a well known Irish fiddler and a former step dancer and Brendan's brother Monsignor Ogle is a former Irish dance teacher who has been described as one of the finest dancers of his generation.

I've gotten a ton of e-mails from fans wondering if I knew the scoop on the Andrea Corr CD. Call off your dogs! I have no idea why her CD, "Ten Feet High," has yet to see release. Like many of you, I am itching to hear what she cooked up with producer Bono.

In the spirit of honesty in journalism, let me come clean. The Rye are my peeps!

They hail from Athenry, Co. Galway, birthplace of my father's tribe.

Grammy Award winning artist Moya Brennan is widely considered the First Lady of Celtic music, lending her signature ethereal voice to Clannad for over 30 years. She consistently pushes musical boundaries on a solo career that spans seven albums, and her new CD, Signature, continues in that tradition. Signature, which was released last month, looks back over an extraordinary life through a collection of 12 introspective tracks.

I was speaking with a friend of mine who organizes ethnic festivals on the Eastern Seaboard. She was lamenting about the state of the festivals in general. Smaller attendances mean smaller budgets mean less funding to draw the big artists that pack the people in.

I may have correctly picked the Celtic Cross show at Joe's Pub as the place to be on St. Patrick's night in my column last week, but even I underestimated the rejuvenate powers of the music! I hopped off the train a wounded man after a beer soaked pub crawl that began before noon, but I soon perked up once the exuberant jigs and reels hit my nervous system!

The joy of the trad-laced Irish rock music might have been in sharp contrast with the dark gothic stylings of the hipper-than-thou Joe's Pub, but the room is such a perfect place to perform that no one seemed to notice. Celtic Cross was particularly thrilled to be playing there.

There are a number of artists lately that are jumping ship from the traditional record company model. Both U2 and Madonna recently announced what are known as 360 degree deals that include record, tour and merchandising production.

For less established artists, the Internet is proving to be the new place to drop a CD.

Some of the biggest names on the Irish music scene came from the small folk clubs tucked within the side streets of Dublin. Damien Rice, Damien Dempsey, Gemma Hayes and Paddy Casey are just some of the stars that have sprung from this green folk revival.

Showcasing unsigned musicians since 2005, the Zodiac Sessions run every Wednesday evening downstairs in Dublin bar Bruxelles, located just off Grafton Street.

The Saw Doctors recently released "That Takes the Biscuit," a collection of rarities, live tracks and oddities from the band's long recording history. Typically, these albums of studio scraps are half-baked ideas that should have stayed in the oven.

But by and large, this "biscuit" is hot and satisfying throughout.